F45 wrote:I wasn't talking about the stiffness of the overall wheel. With 32 spokes the wheel will be very stiff.
Not true. The problem with very light alloy rims is the lack of rim stiffness. That means the spokes don't all share the load well. Take a look at this article.
http://www.slowtwitch.com/Tech/Debunkin ... _3449.html
A wheel as described above will only have a portion of spokes resist lateral wheel flex since a noodly rim doesn't transfer the loads to the rest of them. Compound that with light gauge spokes and the wheel isn't stiff at all particularly when those light gauge spokes are used on the right side of the rear wheel. You have poor bracing angles on that side. It's the trifecta of flexy spokes, flexy rim, and poor bracing angles.
When I built up my Mavic GP4s I used ALchemy hubs since they have the best bracing angles. I still used Sapim Race spokes for the right, rear even thought the rest are Lasers. That is a pretty stiff wheelset, but still doesn't compare either my carbon wheels or even my Pacenti SL23 wheels. The Pacenti rims are much stiffer than any of the box rims we have discussed so far. Same can be said for Hed C2, H+Son Archetypes, or any of the wider rims made today.